29-year-old protester Archil Museliantsi was sentenced to 4 years in prison after a court found him guilty of damaging property.

Judge Giorgi Arevadze announced the verdict today, August 22.

Prosecutors claimed Museliantsi damaged the power source of a CCTV camera mounted on a pole outside the Parliament by setting fire to it, which would have made it impossible to identify protesters’ faces at the rally. The defense argued the video evidence in the case could not identify the masked individual as Museliantsi.

Archil Museliantsi was detained on November 30, 2024. He was charged under Article 187 of the criminal code [damage or destruction of property], specifically Part 2, which covers committing the crime by setting fire and is punishable by 3 to 6 years in prison.